Grain-car door



B. VAN STRAIT. GRAIN CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY23, I918.

1,320,297, mint d Oct. 28,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET B. VAN STRAIT.

GRAIN CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23,1918.

Patented Oct. 28,1919.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

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3 4 a W Q aywent oz nerd -mm BREES VAN STRAIT, 8F BUFFALU, NEW YORK.

GRAIN-OAR DOQR.

Application filed July 23, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BREES VAN STRAIT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grain Car Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention eomprehends generally improvements in that class of inventions known as wooden buildings, and more par-- ticularly relates to agrain car door.

It is the primary aim and object of the present invention to provide a device of the above mentioned character wherein the,body of the door is of a flexible construction and is designed to be conveniently operated so as to be arranged in a closed position across the doorway in the side of the car, or else arranged horizontally -and beneath, but in close relation to the roof of the car to permit of the emptying of the grain from the car.

It is an equally important object of the present invention to provide a device of the above mentioned character wherein improved means is employed for guiding the movement of the flexible door and for sup porting the door when in a closed position and when raised into an open position, while acting in conjunction with the supporting means is the improved manually operable actuating means.

It is a more specific objectof this invention to provide a device of the above mentioned character wherein the door operating means is of such construction that it can be conveniently adjusted and thus readily applied on cars of various sizes; to also provide improved cooperative stop means for limiting the movement of the door when in a raised or inactive and open position.

Among the other aims and objects of this invention may be recited the provision of a device of the character described with a view to compactness, and in which the number of parts are few, the construction simple and the cost of production low and the efliciency high.

Other improvements and novel details in the constructiorrand arrangement of the va rious parts of the apparatus will be brought out more in detail in the description to follow, which for a clear understanding of the invention should be considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and wherein is disclosed for the purpose of illustration a convenient and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @et. 28 1911?).

Serial No. 246,292.

satisfactory embodiment of the invention. it is to be noted in this connection that minor changes in the construction and ar rangement of parts may be made without departing from the principle of operation of the various parts.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front elevation of the device.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through a railway car showing the device in position thereon.

F a is a horizontal sectional detail view.

Fig. 5 IS a perspective detail of the cooperative stop means.

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail of the pawl and ratchet arrangement.

Fig. 7 is another detail view.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the above described views. to indicate corresponding parts. I

Referring now, more particularly to the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a grain car 1, on the opposite sides of which are mounted door frames 2, while mounted in the car and designed to close the door frame 2 are the improved doors indicated generally by the numeral 3.

In the present instance each door is of a flexible construction and embodies a plurality of transversely extending slats 4 movably connected relative to each other by means of hinges 5, the outer faces of the slats composing the doors operating against the substantially 'V-shaped tracks 6 carried by the inner faces of the sides of the door frames and desirably formed integral there with and also operating against a center support 7 which is preferably V-shaped in cross section, the lower end thereof being mounted in a suitable socket in the sill of the door frame, while the opposite end is maintained in position by a transversely ex tending and notched bar 8. The doors are supported when in a lowered or closed posi tion by means of flanged guides 9 fastened to the inner faces of the sides of the door frame 2 by means of suitable fasteners l0. This arrangement of-course serves to guide the doors when they are raised and in addition holds the doors in closed relation with the end supports 6 and the center standards 7 as indicated in Fig. 4:.

In order to raise the doors and operably support them in a raised and inactive position to permit of emptying of grain from the car, opposed angle brackets 11 are secured by suitable fasteners 12 to the inner faces of the side walls of the car 1 and at opposite points thereon and near the roof. The fasteners 12 are preferably bolts, while the outer ends thereof pass through sustaining plates 13 andare engaged by nuts 14: so as to be retained in proper position, while the horizontal portions 15 of the brackets are slotted longitudinally and accommodate suitable nut and bolt arrangements 17 which serve as a means for clamping transversely extending supporting .bars 18 to the horizontal portions 15, slots of course, permitting of proper adjustment of the parts in position. Slidably mounted on the supporting bars 18 near the respective ends thereof are pairs of bearing blocks 19 which are designed to be held stationary with respect to the bars 18 by means of set screws 20, while journaled in the opposed bearing blocks 19 is a shaft 21. Each shaft 21 carries spaced pulley wheels 22 over which are trained the cables 23, the outer ends of which are connected as at 21 to the upper bars or slats at of the doors 3 and these cables are also trained about other pulley wheels 25 carried by a shaft 26 and positioned in the same horizontal plane with the wheels 22. Each shaft 26 has its respective ends journaled in opposed bearing blocks 27, adjustable on the rods or bars 18 and held in predetermined positions of adjust ment by means of set screws 28. Spaced drums 29 are now employed and have the inner ends of the cables connected thereto and windable therea bout, while the drums are adjustably carried by a shaft 30 which is journaled in opposed bearing blocks 31 held stationary with respect to the bars 18 by means of set screws 32. For rotating the shafts 30, stub shafts 33 are journaled in bearing blocks 31 mounted on one of the cross bars 18 near the bearing blocks 31 and like the other bearings are held in said positions by set screws. A hand wheel 36 is rigidly connected to each of the stub shafts for imparting rotation to the stub shafts, while pinions 37 are carried by the stub shafts and mesh with gears 38 carried by the adjacent ends of the shafts 30 so that upon operation of the hand wheels the intermeshing gears will transmit rotary motion from the stub shafts 33 to the shafts 30 for the rotation of the latter so that the cables will be wound about the drums on the shafts 30 for the raising of the doors 3.

As intimated, improved means have been provided for limiting the movement of the doors when they are being raised and in reducing this feature of the invention to practice, transversely extending sto strips 40 are employed, the respective on 5 being secured to the door frame near the head thereof and these strips are positioned so as to be engaged by the lugs 11 carried bythe outer faces of the lowermost slats 4 of the doors 3, as is apparent.

Cooperating with the raising means is a means for retaining the doors in a raised position, and in the present instance this consists of ratchet wheels s12 carried by the shafts 33, the teeth thereof being engaged by pivotally mounted gravity pawls 43 on the adjacent bearing blocks 31. This arrangement of course permits of the winding ofthe cables about the drums on the rotation of the shafts 30, yet prevents the shafts from rotating in an opposite direction unless the pawls are held out of engagement with the teeth of the wheels 12.

To assist an attendant entering the car with a view of operating the doors a step or foot rest 1-1 is carried by the outer face of one of the slats midway the height of the door allowing the attendant a foot rest when climbing over the door.

The mode of operation of the present invention may be reviewed as follows:

Assuming that the parts have been assembled in the manner described and as illustrated in the drawings, upon rotation of either of the hand wheels 36, motion will be imparted from the corresponding shaft 33 to the adjacent shafts 33 by means of the intermeshing gears 37 and 38 and inasmuch as the drums 29 are carried by the shaft 30 and have their cables connected thereto, the cables will be wound about the drum so as to raise the corresponding door 3 upwardly and inwardly over the receivers and supports 39, the upward and inward movement being limited by the stop strips a0 against which the lugs 11 abut. The doors are prevented from downward movement by means of pawl and ratchet mechanism, as is apparent. In returning the doors it is only necessary to release the pawl and impart a slight initial movement to the doors and they will, owing to their own weight slide downwardly between flanged guides 9 until they abut the sills of .the adjacent door frame. In this connection it is of course apparent that the flanged guides cooperate with the end and center supports for properly supporting the flexible doors.

It is believed in view of the foregoing description that a further detailed description of the operation of the invention is entirely unnecessary. Likewise it is believed that the advantages of the invention will be readily apparent.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the. invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

- What is claimed is 1. In a device of the class described, a flexible door, substantially V-shaped tracks against which the outer face of the door lies, flange guides overlapping the door on the rear face thereof, and hoisting means for the door, the V-shaped guides being disposed with that edge opposite the crotch in contact with the door to reduce to a minimum the friction attendant on hoisting the door.

2. In adevice of the class described, the combination with a grain car having a door opening formed therein, of a flexible door, substantially V-shaped tracks carried by the inner faces of the door frame at the sides thereof, the \l-shaped tracks being disposed with those edges opposite the crotches in contact with the outer face of the door, flange guides secured to the door frame and overlapping the side edges of the door on the back face thereof to hold them in contact with said tracks, a vertically disposed center support which is substantially V-shaped in cross section, the said support being disposed vertically Within the. center of the door frame and having the edge opposite its crotch in contact with the outer face of the door, and hoisting means for the door.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a grain car having a door openingformed therein, of a flexible door, substantially V-shaped tracks carried by the inner faces of the door frame at the sides thereof, the V-shaped tracks being disposed 1 with those edges opposite the ,crotches in ing blocks being carried with said tracks, a vertically disposed center support which is substantially V-sbaped 1n cross section, the said support being dis-v posed vertically within the center of the door i frame and having the edge opposite. its crotch in contact with the outer face ofvthe door, a stop-bar disposed transversely across the door frame adjacent the top thereof, and lugs carried by the door on the outer face thereof and adjacent the bottom, the said lugs engaging the stop-bar to limit the upward movement of the door.

4. In a device of the class described, a flexible door formed of a plurality of strips and hinges securing said strips together on one face thereof so that the abutting longitudinal edges of the strip may limit the bending of the door to but on direction, guiding means for the door, transversely extending supporting bars, bearing blocks carried by the supporting bars and adjustable therealong, shafts spanning the supporting bars and journaled in the blocks carried thereon, pulleys carried by the shafts, a mainv shaft, bearing blocks for the main shaft, said bearby the supporting bars to position the main shaft between the aforesaid shafts, drums carried by the main shaft, cables connecting with the upper edge of the door and trained over the ulleys and connecting with the drums, an means for rotating the main shaft, whereby the door may be raised and carried over and wound around the pulleys so. that in raised position it occupies a less area of space than in lowered posltion.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' BREES VAN STRAIT. 

